Rev.1: 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.---Jesus is the Alpha and Omega- the Almighty!
Daniel 11:33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.

Pages

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The New Evangelisation: Vatican II 50 years on

Posted by Ian Linden on Mon, 02/07/2012 - 4:48pm

Posted on the Tony Blair Foundation Site for interfaithism

Proselytism is one of the neuralgic areas in relations between
different faiths. It has certainly become one of the major secular
objections to the practice of religion. But the reality is very often
different from the assumptions and fears of those wishing to find a
stick to beat the faith communities.

To begin with only a tiny proportion of people of faith are engaged
in what is normally meant by proselytism: coercive or manipulative
attempts to get people to join their faith community and adopt their set
of beliefs and practises. The idea that faith communities see health
care, education, or work with the poor as instruments of conversation,
rather than integral aspects of a compassionate and engaged faith, is
more widespread than it should be on the basis of evidence. When faith
communities do actively undertake action aimed at increasing their
numbers, there are a number of accepted guidelines on an ethical
approach that does not intrude on cultural sensitivities, personal
liberty or freedom of conscience.

It’s possible to see “Jesus saves” car stickers in 95% Muslim
societies - alongiside surprise that this may be considered provocative.
“There is no coercion in religion,” the Qur’an says – which does not
mean that Muslims never coerce fellow citizens into adopting Islamic
practices. But both Islam and Christianity ideally “invite” people to
their faith (daw’a) and seek to convert by gentle argument or the
witness of good works. “Preach the Gospel with all your heart, all your
energy, all your intellect....and sometimes use words”, as St Francis
didn’t say; though it speaks volumes that he is thought to have said
something like this. And, of course, many faiths, such as Buddhism, are
not actively missionary and attract followers by the force of their
arguments and witness to the truth.

It is hardly news that each faith believes it is the best and
generally the only right path, or at least paradigmatic of what faith
should be. It goes without saying that this involves incompatible truth
claims that can be troublesome if interpreted in exclusive and excluding
ways. So it is not surprising that many faith communities have at the
heart of their community life a core activity involved in spreading it
or transmitting it to future generations, and that this can cause
problems. Daw’a, evangelism, integral mission, evangelisation: the key
words differ, but the principle is the same. How it is done is the key
question.

It was partly with this question in mind that I attended an
international theological conference “Vatican II, 50 years on: The New
Evangelisation” at Leeds Trinity University College at the end of last
month. How was the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, instructing
1.3 billion followers, intending to go about it? One of the problems
that the Vatican faces is to address and direct global Catholicism when
the circumstances and the socio-economic cultural and political forces
are dramatically different in different parts of the world. The New
Evangelisation turns out to be only new in the sense that it was
particularly directed to Christians who, in the eyes of the Vatican, had
been adversely affected by secularism and modernity. It was about
turning “self-secularised” Catholics into better Catholics. This put
Europe at the top of the target list.

So the Conference carried an important message to other faith
communities that the target of this movement is not directed at
converting people of other faiths to Christianity. Its intention is to
get Catholics in the “secularised world” to live up to the promise of
their faith. This focus carries the authority of Archbishop Salvatore
Fisichella who leads the new consistory for the New Evangelisation,
Fernando Cardinal Filoni who leads of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples (the old Propaganda Fide) and Francis Cardinal
George of Chicago, all of whom spoke on this theme.

This does not mean that the evangelisation of peoples in the
traditional sense of Christian missionary activity is eclipsed. Rev. Dr.
Richard Baawobr, a Ghanaian Missionary of Africa and first assistant to
the Superior General of the White Fathers in Rome, spoke eloquently of
the changing role of his religious order in supporting the “young
Churches” and in inter-religious dialogue. That the Second Vatican
Council shifted the Catholic Church into dialogue mode was a second
development frequently alluded to in the course of the Conference. A
feature of the new global Catholicism, his is an approach to religious
pluralism that I welcome wholeheartedly.

Ian Linden is the Director of Policy at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed-Not exactly live, and not nearly all inclusive!

Total Pageviews

Subscribe To

Laminin

video post April 22, 08

The End Game..

The Bohemian Grove

Alex Jones Video

What others are saying...

--------------------------------------------------------

Our Reviews

"This site is right on target with the way that I have been thinking. It has definitely been bookmarked and I will be subscribing to the RSS feed. The content is relevant and something that all need to read. The site was easy to navigate. Keep up the good work!!!"